After 'Brutal' US Incident, Emiratis Told to Dress Differently Overseas

Police released this body camera video of the incident.
(YouTube)

(Newser)
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Wearing traditional clothes outside the United Arab Emirates can be hazardous to your health, the UAE warned its citizens after an unfortunate incident in Ohio last week. Ahmed Al Menhali, a 41-year-old Emirati who is in the US for medical treatment, was handcuffed by heavily armed cops who descended as he tried to book a room in the Fairfield Inn in Avon, about 20 miles outside Cleveland, while wearing traditional white robes and a headscarf, the National reports. Cops say they received phone calls from the sister and father of a hotel receptionist saying there was a "suspicious man" in "full headdress" who was pledging his allegiance to ISIS, the BBC reports. Police searched Menhali and determined there had been a miscommunication.

"They were brutal with me," says Menhali, 41. "They pressed forcefully on my back. I had several injuries and bled from the forceful nature of their arrest." Menhali, who is recovering from a stroke, fainted during the incident and was taken to a local hospital. Avon's mayor and police chief have now apologized to Menhali, the Guardian reports. "For citizens traveling outside the country, and in order to ensure their safety, we point out not to wear formal dress while traveling, especially in public places," a UAE foreign ministry account tweeted on Saturday. (This student was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight after he was overheard speaking Arabic during a phone call.)